Composition and temporal patterns of larval fish communities in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays
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1
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Portugal
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2
School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, United States
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3
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Division of Fish and Wildlife, United States
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4
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, Fisheries Department, United States
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5
Centre for Environment & Water, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia
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6
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, United States
Comparing larval fish assemblages in different estuaries provides insights about the coastal distribution of larval populations, larval transport, and adult spawning locations (Ribeiro et al. 2015). We simultaneously compared the larval fish assemblages entering two Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) estuaries (Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, USA) through weekly sampling from 2007 to 2009. In total, 43 taxa (32 families) and 36 taxa (24 families) were collected in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, respectively. Mean taxonomic diversity, mean richness, and evenness were generally lower in Delaware Bay. Communities of both bays were dominated by Anchoa spp., Gobiosoma spp., Micropogonias undulatus, and Brevoortia tyrannus; Paralichthys spp. was more abundant in Delaware Bay and Microgobius thalassinus was more abundant in Chesapeake Bay. Inter-annual variation in the larval fish communities was low at both sites, with a relatively consistent composition across years, but strong seasonal (intra-annual) variation in species composition occurred in both bays. Two groups were identified in Chesapeake Bay: a ‘winter’ group dominated by shelf-spawned species (e.g. M. undulatus) and a ‘summer’ group comprising obligate estuarine species and coastal species (e.g. Gobiosoma spp. and Cynoscion regalis, respectively). In Delaware Bay, 4 groups were identified: a ‘summer’ group of mainly obligate estuarine fishes (e.g. Menidia sp.) being replaced by a ‘fall’ group (e.g. Ctenogobius boleosoma and Gobionellus oceanicus); ‘winter’ and ‘spring’ groups were dominated by shelf-spawned (e.g. M. undulatus and Paralichthys spp.) and obligate estuarine species (e.g. Leiostomus xanthurus and Pseudopleuronectes americanus), respectively. This study demonstrates that inexpensive and simultaneous sampling in different estuaries provides important insights into the variability in community structure of fish assemblages at large spatial scales.
Acknowledgements
F.R. and E.J.H. thank the late John E. Olney for his guidance and supervision of this work. F.R. was supported by the Portuguese Science Foundation (SFRH/BPD/46761/2008) from the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano/Fundo Social Europeu (POPH/FSE). We are thankful to several volunteers that made this study possible at both sites. This study was funded by the Virginia Sea Grant (NA07OAR4170047; projects R/CM-28, R/CF-09-01) and Delaware Sea Grant (NA05OAR 4171041; project R/ECO-3).
References
Ribeiro, F., Hale, E., Hilton, E. J., Clardy, T. R., Deary, A. L., Targett, T. E., & Olney, J. E. (2015). Composition and temporal patterns of larval fish communities in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, USA. Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 527, 167-180.
Keywords:
fish larvae,
Estuaries,
transport,
recruitment,
Middle Atlantic Bight
Conference:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Life Cycles, Migration and Connectivity
Citation:
Ribeiro
F,
Hale
E,
Hilton
E,
Clardy
T,
Deary
A,
Targett
T and
Olney
J
(2015). Composition and temporal patterns of larval fish communities in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2015.03.00188
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Received:
30 Nov 2015;
Published Online:
01 Dec 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Filipe Ribeiro, MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Lisboa, Portugal, fmvribeiro@gmail.com